美国庆祝圣帕特里克节 人人都是爱尔兰人

In America, ‘Everyone’ Is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day 美国庆祝圣帕特里克节 人人都是爱尔兰人

St. Patrick’s Day is Thursday, but some Americans started celebrating two weeks ago.

The city of Alexandria, Virginia, held its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 5. So did three cities in New Jersey¹.

The holiday is a big deal in America and not only for the 33.1 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry².

Many non-Irish Americans will join Irish friends in wearing green clothes on Thursday. Many will lift a mug of Guinness, the famous Irish beer.

At a Washington, D.C., luncheon³ this week, President Barack Obama made a note of how big St. Patrick’s Day has become.

“Now, it’s true that it’s not technically⁴ St. Patrick’s Day, but that's OK,” Obama said. “Most folks who celebrate it aren’t Irish either.”

The holiday honors Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Patrick lived in the 5th century. He was taken by pirates and kept as a slave in Ireland. After he escaped, he trained as a priest before returning to Ireland.

“Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years,” wrote Catholic Online. “He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions⁶. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering, he died March 17, 461.”

Diarmuid ó Giolláin is a professor of Irish Language and Literature at Notre Dame⁷ University in Indiana. He told VOA that St. Patrick’s Day appeals to many nationalities because it is linked to immigrants, or outsiders.

“The Irish came in large numbers, and were Catholics seen as outside the majority Protestant population,” ó Giolláin said. “I think they found this space of parading their ethnicity and their identity, and this probably made the holiday attractive to all immigrants,” he said.

The Irish are known as great storytellers. It is the home of many wonderful writers, including James Joyce and Oscar Wilde.

And at the St. Patrick’s Day lunch Tuesday, U.S. politicians tried their best to tell a few stories of their own.

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin talked to Ireland’s Acting⁸ President Enda Kenny about a recent family trip to Ireland. Kenny attended Tuesday’s luncheon, as have many Irish presidents over the years.

“While we were there, we walked through a graveyard⁹ where our ancestors were buried,” Ryan said of his Ireland trip. “And as we were walking, we came across a headstone with this inscription¹⁰: ‘Here lies a politician and an honest man.’”

“And my son said, ‘Wow, I wonder how they got the two of them in one grave.’”

Many Americans will observe St. Patrick’s Day with big parades. The largest is in New York City on Thursday, where crowds in the millions are not unusual.

And don’t forget about Ireland.

The capital city of Dublin will also have a big parade on Thursday. The theme is, “Imagine If …” Parade officials say it centers on the imagination of Ireland’s youth as they look to the next 100 years.

Words in This Story

mug – n. a large drinking cup with a handle

patron saint – n. a saint who is believed to protect a particular place or type of person

miracle – n. an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God.

confession⁵ – n. a written or spoken statement in which you say that you have done something wrong

endure – v. experience pain or suffering for a long time

graveyard – n. a place where dead people are buried.

headstone – n. a stone that marks the place where a dead person is buried

inscription – n. words that are written on or cut into a surface

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

3 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

6 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

10 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。